The US dollar surpassed Rs207 in early morning trade on Thursday, owing to concerns about depleting foreign exchange reserves and ambiguity surrounding Pakistan’s deal with the International Monetary Fund (IMF).
The Pakistani rupee gained 46 paisas against the US dollar in the open market in early morning trading but the US dollar within hours struck back and smashed another historic barrier of Rs207.
However, the US dollar wasted no time in striking back at the spineless Pakistani rupee. In the open market, the dollar was trading at Rs208 today.
On Wednesday, the PKR fell 0.63 percent against the US dollar.
As trading resumes on Thursday, forex dealers reported that the rupee resisted the rise of the US dollar, but the greenback roared back. The greenback is currently trading at 207 to 209.
On Thursday morning, the KSE-100 Index gained 312 points, extending its bullish trend. The KSA-100 Index is currently worth 41,751 points.
According to experts, the local currency lost so much against the greenback due to the International Monetary Fund’s $6 billion economic relief programme being delayed (IMF).
The country is in the grip of a balance-of-payments crisis, with the central bank’s foreign exchange reserves have fallen to $9.2 billion.
Finance Minister Miftah Ismail said on Sunday that Pakistan will seek a deferred payment plan for liquefied natural gas purchased under long-term agreements with Qatar, as Islamabad faces a balance-of-payments crisis and dwindling foreign exchange reserves.
